The Five
by Moczo
Summary: Viviane is upset she wasn't invited to join the Five. "Throne of Bhaal" in five parts.
1. Prologue

_Prologue:_

Viviane stared up at her six companions. Five of them were covered in wounds and blood, and one was fabulously naked on account of the fact that five minutes earlier he'd been a ghost.

Everyone was now telling her that her destiny was approaching and that meant she needed the best team. The _best_ team might not be standing in front of her, but they were all she had. Problem was, she could only take five of them.

"Any volunteers to go home?" she asked weakly. To her surprise no one, not even Viconia, volunteered. Viviane was silent for a minute as she considered this turn of events. "Well," she began, and the team hung on her every word, "Anomen is my cuddlebear, so he's staying." Anomen did his best to not be both embarrassed and pleased, but it was a futile effort. "Imoen is my home slice, so she's staying too." Imoen pumped her fist in the air. "Keldorn can summon a choir of angels, so he's not leaving." The paladin merely nodded his agreement. "Viconia... Well, I dunno. You're pretty cool and it's nice to have someone weaker than me, but you're kinda superfluous now."

The drow huffed. "I am never superfluous."

Viviane snorted. "Uh huh. And Minsc, you're awesome, no doubt about that. But you still owe me that ice weasel and that's not cool."

"Those are hard to come by," he pointed out, looking ashamed.

"Yeah but I was promised an ice weasel. Also what was up with you offering both Nalia and Aerie the position of witch? I'm a way better mage than either of them. I mean seriously, neither of them should be considered mages as far as I'm concerned. I think I would've been slightly less ashamed on your behalf if you asked _Jan_ to be your witch, but then again, I'm really truly 100-percent happy you didn't get that desperate. Anyway, I should be your witch. So man, I dunno, that's two strikes against you." Minsc hung his head in shame. "And then there's that one." She looked at Sarevok, who met her gaze with equal disdain. "And then there's that one."

"I'm trained in the great and terrible arts of the Deathbringer, specialized in inflicting terror and war upon my foes," the man said, voice unimpressed. "The ranger has a hamster and the drow needs a magic belt in order to swing a flail."

Viviane considered this. "He has a point. He also doesn't owe me an ice weasel."

Imoen winced. "Points and ice weasels. Not great things to bring up about a man who's naked."

"Astute observation, Immy. Someone get that man some clothes, 'cause he's joining our team." She grinned. "I know you thought I was a stupid, but I'm stickin' by callin' us the Three."

Sarevok almost, _almost_, told her he'd quit if she called them that, but frankly, he wasn't going to go that far.

She returned her look to Viconia and Minsc. "Sorry Minsc. I could overlook the promise of the ice weasel except for the whole witch thing, which really makes me mad. Get it, witch which?" No one even smiled, and she sighed. "You people don't appreciate my genius. Anyway, Minsc, sorry, you're out."

The great Rashemi warrior wibbled. "Very well. I shall remain here, in this hell cave of evil, until you forgive me and restore my honor. While I may not mind, I have to warn you, Boo judges you. He judges you harshly."

"Boo should've been more proactive in helping you make good decisions. Okay, team! Destiny calls, and apparently it's calling from Saradush because why not."

The team went through the portal to destiny.


	2. Part One: Yaga-Shura

Part I: Yaga-Shura

To the surprise of no one, upon arriving in Saradush they were beset upon by misunderstanding guards who insisted that murder was the best way to figure out what was going on. More than used to such a reception at this point, it didn't take long at all for the team to clear out the soldiers and come face-to-face with a distraught-looking redhead who quickly regrouped and introduced herself as Melissan, a Guardian for the Children of Bhaal

("She's the guardian of vicious killers spawned by a murder-god," Sarevok muttered. "I'm sure she's a wonderful woman.")

Melissan explained that the city was under siege outside by the fire giant Yaga-Shura and inside by Gromnir, an insane general, and that to progress any further they would need to defeat Gromnir and proceed outside the city to defeat Yaga-Shura.

("It sounds like a Tuesday to me," Imoen drawled.)

When Gromnir was slain, they were directed to the woods and an old temple of Bhaal for answers, and accosted by ghosts

("Okay, clearly that wasn't Gorion-Daddy considering he was mean, which stands to reason that the ghost wasn't your sister, either," Viviane was saying to soothe Anomen.

"But it was telling the truth – I did fail my sister by not avenging her!"

"Anomen, I'm telling you, you're fine. You can trust me, right? When have I ever steered you wrong?"

"… … How about when you-"

"Shhhhh.")

and crazy druid ladies. Eventually this led them to the Marching Mountains, home of Yaga-Shura's base.

* * *

"Here we are, team. Inside that cave is a temple filled with fire giants. So, who ought to go first?" Viviane asked, looking at the foreboding entrance.

"What kind of question…" Imoen began.

"Ah, I have an idea," Keldorn said, looking at if he'd caught on to some sort of inside joke, "Perhaps our member with the most experience in slaying giants should go first."

"But do we have such a noble knight?" Viconia asked, clearly understanding now.

"We do!" Viviane proclaimed, "There is, amongst our company, a most noble member of the Order who has ample experience in slaying giants! Why, he would feel proud to, if not obligated to, go first into this lair of fire giants!"

They all looked at Anomen, who was turning more and more pale with every passing second. "I… er… those were _Hillgnasher_ giants," he stammered lamely. "These are… fire giants, which are, er, more… … big? than Hillgnasher giants, and er, require entire parties to, er, slay. Yes, they are… full of tactics, and, as such, it would be best if… … we all went in together. I can, of course, lead if… if necessary, but… ah… it might not be."

Viviane patted her boyfriend on the back and went into the temple first. She considered it part of her job to make Anomen regret his past declarations of valor. After all, if she were ever called on to demonstrate the validity of _her_ past declarations of valor, she would do so and then trust her party members to save her life because if she died their quest was over. Anomen didn't have that luxury.

There were four fire giants guarding the entrance to the temple, although they were fairly easily dispatched by the well-crafted, battle-tested team. Sensing an opportunity, Sarevok approached his far smaller sister. "This is a fairly nice temple," he said rather companionably. "Though there are far too many fire giants for my tastes, but what do you expect when they worship something that isn't a god?"

"Some people would argue that the dead fire giants add a certain _ja ne se quois_," the elf replied with a shrug.

Sarevok barked out a laugh. "Spoken like a true Lady of Murder!"

Anomen wanted to interject – he was very good at interjection, found it to be one of his stronger abilities – but that would have opened him up to more comments about him slaying fire giants by himself, and he really had no desire to do such a thing.

For her part, Viviane sighed. "Yeah, I'm just not feeling the whole 'Goddess of Murder' thing." Behind the two talking siblings, three people looked relieved and one looked rather disappointed.

Sarevok shook his head emphatically. "I implore you to reconsider. We all know how much you'd love having your own temple…"

She did look tempted.

"… worshipers scrambling for your favor…"

She bit her lower lip.

"… daily sacrifices, likely being other mages…"

"Hey," said Imoen at that uncomfortable truth. Viviane hated other mages and refused to let Imoen cast any spells.

Viviane herself blushed terribly.

"… and _cheese_…"

She let out a very obvious moan. Anomen nearly died.

"That's enough, you two, we have important things to do," Keldorn said sternly, physically pushing Viviane forward.

* * *

"Not it."

Yaga-Shura's heart had the distinctness of being enormous, bloody, beating, and literally on fire.

A chorus of "Not it!"s followed Viviane's declaration that she was not going to be the one to carry the pulsing organ. Unfortunately, due to the in-unison chorus, the team was back at square one as to who would take on the duty.

"Maybe you could just 'zoom' it back to your pocket plane," Imoen suggested. "Although, come to think of it, getting it from there to the witch becomes a problem…"

"Besides, that icky thing is going nowhere near my pocket plane," Viviane sniffed delicately. "It's gross."

Viconia raised her hand gamely. "Perhaps we should hold it hostage so the witch teaches us how to remove bodily organs and attain invulnerability."

"That may be the most logical thing I've ever heard," Sarevok had to admit.

"Ewww, no!" Viviane's thin-fingered hands covered her chest defensively, as if she expected Viconia to attack her. "No way am I letting some crazy lady come at me with a knife! Besides, we as a group are way too badass to need cheating like that."

"_That_ is far more logical," Keldorn said, sounding proud.

"Fair enough, _darthiir_. So, regarding the heart…"

"We could make a wagon of some sort?" Keldorn suggested, not sounding convinced of this idea.

"Out of what?" Sarevok sneered, "Leftover pieces of chunked giant?"

"Ewww!" As Viviane made her displeasure known, Imoen nearly vomited at her mental image of a literal giant-made wagon.

Finally Anomen took a deep breath, held it, and marched forward, taking the burning flesh in his arms. He pointedly did not breathe.

"Cool. Good job, An-Man, way to take one for the team. All right guys, let's go back to the emotionally unstable druid so she can turn off the fire on several essential bodily organs! It's like literal heartburn!" Viviane pumped her fist in the air and started walking, her group following. "You know, sometimes I hate my life."

"Only sometimes?"

"Shut up, Viconia."

* * *

They delivered the hearts, although to the surprise of absolutely no one the emotionally-unstable druid attacked them viciously. It did not take a lot of effort for our heroes to be victorious, although Keldorn had to kill a charmed Sarevok twice before the end of the battle.

"Okay, I think we need a recap," said Imoen, looting corpses. "We just had someone un-set Yaga-Shura's heart on fire to remove his invulnerability, right?"

"Right," Viviane replied, pushing aside a dead dryad with her foot.

"And now we're going to take on his entire army by ourselves because he's not invincible anymore, right?"

"Right."

Imoen paused to consider her words. "I still feel like we're missing a few steps."

"You wouldn't feel that way if you knew Deathspell," her sister replied, patting her on the shoulder.

"That's because you won't let me-"

"Anyhow, so we're going to kill Yaga-Shura because he is an evil fire giant who's trying to torch Saradush."

"Why do we care about Saradush?" asked Viconia pointedly.

Viviane awkwardly rubbed one of her long ears. "Uh… Because it's a nice place? Gosh, you people are all uppity lately. I'm still in charge, you know! We're doing this because I said so!"

"Of course," Keldorn replied gently, even though everyone present knew that if they were going to listen to anyone, it was going to be Keldorn and certainly not Viviane.

"We should be fine," said Anomen companionably, "After all, I am an expert in killing giants of many different types."

Everyone else groaned.

* * *

Standing across from the bridge that separated them from an entire army, Viviane created her magical protections. "Okay, here's how we're going to do this. Keldorn, you summon a choir of angels." Keldorn had already started doing so, so she added, "And really that's all that needs to be said, but I guess for the rest of you - lots of area of effect spells, so Viconia and Anomen, spam up that awesome spell with the lightning. Storm of Vengeance, isn't?" Anomen nodded. "Sarevok, you're just going to do your thing. Imoen, please try not to die too quickly."

"Oh come on!" Imoen protested. "Why won't you let me be a mage too? Keldorn can summon a choir of angels and I can pick locks! This isn't fair at all!"

"Seriously, are you doing this right now?" Viconia sneered, looking at the pink-haired woman. "You have to pick _now_ to have an existential crisis?"

"Hey, I can have a crisis whenever I want to! Viviane, this isn't fair! You, Anomen and Viconia can use great and terrible magic! Anomen, Keldorn and Sarevok are strong and powerful warriors! _Keldorn can summon a choir of angels!_" She paused for dramatic effect. "_I can pick locks."_

Viviane gave her little sister her best encouraging smile. "You can also set traps! That's what I make you specialize in, remember? Lots and lots of spike traps."

Imoen was not placated. "They're only good for stationary villains that I know where they're gonna pop up, _or_ for small corridors where I can set up choke points. That requires precognition! Thanks to you I can set lots of spike traps and _Keldorn can summon a choir of angels!"_

Keldorn looked embarrassed as he admitted, "I'm sure if I asked nicely, an angel could probably pick locks too…"

"See! This is all your fault! I wanted to be a mage! I would have been a good mage!"

At that moment a group of peasants ran by screaming in terror. One was shot by a soldier, although he was then surrounded by a choir of angels healing him so he would be just fine.

The battle of Yaga-Shura and his army against Viviane and her allies began.

"Let's do this," said Keldorn, hefting up his sword. With a dramatic battle-cry, he ran into the fray, closely followed by Sarevok and Anomen.

As the three warriors engaged the enemy, Viviane sprinted past them, calling back, "I'll handle YagaShura; you all take out his army!" What could only be described as a horde of humans and giants descended upon Viviane's group, while the magess herself ran to find her biggest brother.

Standing back to back, Sarevok and Viconia formed a partnership, Sarevok slaying any close enemies while allowing Viconia to fling spells without being interrupted. "There are entirely too many of them," Viconia muttered before chanting another spell.

"They do seem to keep coming," Sarevok agreed.

Meanwhile Keldorn, aided by his Boots of Speed, was systematically hunting down and smiting the many mages that peppered Yaga-Shura's army.

Imoen considered doing nothing, but finally blended into the shadows to backstab various opponents.

Anomen was a one-man army, using his enchanted war-hammer to smash the skulls of his foes while healing himself when necessary.

Viviane sprinted her way through the armies eagerly attacking her allies to find Yaga-Shura. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed his protectors to attack the others. "I am invincible!" the giant declared, "I should have been sent against you initially, Viviane!"

"Yeah, well, I was stuck in the city with Gromnir; of course I was going to fight him first!"

"Wait, Gromnir – bah, never mind! You will die here!"

Letting out a war cry, he ran through a barrage of missiles she fired at him and swung down his huge war-hammer, which she nimbly dodged.

"What was that?" he questioned, standing straight and looking confused, "Was that… damn that witch! That was _pain!_ She dispelled my invincibility!"

"Ha ha," Viviane replied.

"Grrrr… no matter! I do not need it to destroy a mere elf!"

Viviane held her arms wide and gestured to herself in a 'bring it on' gesture. "Try me."

Meanwhile, the horde continued to come.

"This is getting ridiculous," Sarevok growled as Viconia chanted nearby, healing him from his numerous cuts. He truthfully wasn't feeling the pain, but the blood loss was enough to make him aware of the fact that too much more was going to kill him.

"I'm running out of spells," Viconia muttered under her breath.

Imoen finished off an opponent that Sarevok had already injured.

Elsewhere, Keldorn, having run out of Dispels, continued to hit and chip away at the defenses of the mages who, unharmed, began flinging their offensive spells at him. _If I survive this_, he thought to himself, _I am going to need to purchase new armor._

Yaga-Shura swung his war-hammer again, catching Viviane's spell protections as she casted a retaliatory Cone of Cold. He ignored the freezing pain, swinging again. She dodged.

Across the field, Viconia threw up her hands in disgust. "I can maybe heal a scratch, but other than that..." She withdrew her flail, "I will have to take a more proactive approach. Lil'alur! For Shar!"

For every stab wound Sarevok now suffered, a dead man lay at his feet.

Her spell protections still up, Viviane stuck her tongue out at her largest brother, blowing a raspberry.

Yaga-Shura leaned down and pressed a huge finger to Viviane's forehead, looking smug. Her Stoneskin cracked and fell to the floor, disappearing. The fire giant chuckled.

Viviane turned and sprinted.

It seemed like the army was Yaga-Shura was diminishing. Sarevok seemed to have gone into some sort of berserker mode, haphazardly slicing down enemies and ignoring his own wounds. It worked out well for him; in this state, little was harming him.

The mages having all been defeated by his hand, Keldorn began cutting down Yaga-Shuran foot soldiers, barely jumping out of the way as Viviane ran past, being chased down by Yaga-Shura himself.

As they ran past Anomen, the priest of Helm cursed to himself and started sprinting after them. Oddly enough, his first thought was, _Viviane really runs like a girl…_

"Old man! To me!" Sarevok barked, finding himself face-to-knee with another giant. Keldorn humbly went to his aid, the two of them tag-teaming the giant.

Viviane continued sprinting with Yaga-Shura fast on her heels. The ground was shaking each time the giant's feet hit the floor. Anomen was running parallel to them.

As Yaga-Shura was about to catch up to the hapless Viviane, Anomen ran out from behind a hut and, throwing all of his magically-enhanced strength into the blow, slammed Crom Faeyer into Yaga-Shura's kneecap. The giant went down hard.

Not losing momentum, Anomen grabbed Viviane's arm and the two continued running until they reached a dead-end.

"Do you have any magic left?" Anomen gasped to her, readying his tower shield for the inevitable retaliation.

Viviane nodded, using the opportunity to reactivate some more protections. "Let it be said that making that hammer and giving it to you was the best decision I have ever made, especially considering you know how much I hate spending money."

"That's not true," Anomen chided her good-naturedly, "The _best_ decision you've ever made was sleeping with me."

She chortled. "Oh you wish, lover boy." A chant completed her protections. "You ready to fight this guy, baby?"

"Aye, milady, as always."

The giant had consumed enough healing potions to restore his knee. It took him a minute to get up from the ground, allowing enough time for Anomen to cast his own protection spells. When Yaga-Shura came up upon the cornered couple, both were ready for him.

"He's rather tall," Anomen muttered to her.

"Try seeing it from my height," she responded, being shorter than the average elf.

Yaga-Shura bellowed for his soldiers as he approached the couple. Anomen tightened his grip on his shield and hammer, backing his lady up as much as he could. She moved with him, softly chanting in words he hated.

For whatever reason - divine influence, his own magical abilities, his love for her, rotten luck - he _knew_ when she would stop time. He was all too aware of becoming paralyzed and helpless, and he hated being forced to watch.

The air around them filled with frozen spells, and when the Time Stop ended all chaos broke loose with soldiers dying, ice chunks falling from the sky, and Yaga-Shura's spell protections fading from existence. Anomen hastily debated leaving Viviane unprotected and pressing the advantage, but before he could move a snarling Sarevok had leapt upon the giant's back, ripping open his side with his sword. Within moments Yaga-Shura had backhanded him before having to staunch his wounds and defend himself from Keldorn.

"FIRE!"

Anomen picked up the casting Viviane and ran, narrowly avoiding behind hit dead-on by a massive ball of flame. The resultant explosion tossed them away, and Anomen was forced to let her go lest he crush her. To her credit, she did not stop casting and a score of foot soldiers collapsed before pleading for death.

He hated Emotion almost as much as he hated Time Stop.

Regardless, that was when the moment presented itself perfectly - a distracted Yaga-Shura swatting and hitting at Sarevok and Keldorn who were running around him like flies. Anomen dropped his shield and sprinted as fast as he could, using both his hands and arm muscles to slam his hammer into the giant's already-injured kneecap. The Bhaalspawn roared in agony before collapsing onto Keldorn.

Viviane, as a last-ditch effort, reached out and grabbed one of the massive ice shards from the still-occurring storm she'd conjured. Holding it and trying to ignore the way it made her hand go painfully numb on contact, she raced as fast as she could before coming to stand above Yaga-Shura's head. "You know, rather than stay stationary and separated, you all should have stuck together!" she cried, shoving the ice shard into the giant's forehead.*

Silence settled across the field as Keldorn crawled out from underneath Yaga-Shura's corpse. The six-member hero team was surrounded by the dead army, looking pleased and exhausted.

"Told you I was an expert at killing giants," said Anomen, because he had to.

Then Viviane face-planted into the bloody dirt.

"Oh come on, it was a joke."

* * *

* It didn't go in. She wasn't close to strong enough. Sarevok took the honor before collapsing of his ridiculous amount of wounds.

* * *

"Greetings once again, Godchild," the Solar cooed, soothing Viviane's wounds. "The time has come for thee to learn of thy past and thy origins."

"Your timing is awful." She blinked, looking around her peaceful Pocket Plane. Minsc was playing fetch with Boo and Cespenar.

"Get used to it."

"Anyway, sure, knowledge it up, I guess."

"Tell me, what did Gorion tell you of your mother?"

She tried to recall. "Not much. He made it a point to emphasize they'd had sex, which was totally disturbing and way too much information."

Solar nodded. "You will learn much, then." The angel waved her hand, and a beautiful blonde elf with oversized ears appeared, smiling warmly. Viviane felt the urge to hug her until she noticed a very familiar skull-shaped pendant on a chain around her neck. "Hello my darling girl," the woman cooed, "What a beautiful little slaughterer you have become! You're more like your father every day."

Oh, gross. Viviane was, for once, at a loss for words. "Ngk."

The woman was beaming with a beatific mother's smile. "My name was Alianna. I was the High Priestess of Bhaal. It was with great honor and pride that I was chosen to bear you, one of my Lord's Children."

A shade of Gorion - far less malevolent than the one she'd seen in the woods - appeared next to Alianna. "I was assigned to find when and where the Deathstalkers were going to sacrifice the Children," he said, voice professional. "I was with Alianna throughout her pregnancy, but she never let slip who was her child's father, nor any of her plans for you. The night you were to die, I had to trail her and send word to my fellows."

Alianna gave her daughter a pleading expression. "It was supposed to be a great ceremony! The only deaths were supposed to be the Children who were conceived for that very purpose! It became a massacre with no one surviving! This man - he _slew_ me! Your mother!"

Gorion continued, "It was chaos. Fittingly, it was a slaughter. In the end, all the priests died, as did most of the children. I only had time to save one, and I chose you." He sighed. "I wish… I wish I could have saved more."

A little boy with a severe expression appeared on the other side of Gorion. "Not all of us died, though." Viviane knew, just from the tone of his voice and the glare he was giving, that this adorable little boy had to be Sarevok. "Some of us used the chaos to escape. No one saved me. I saved myself."

Gorion looked at Sarevok. "I am sorry, child."

Sarevok scoffed. "Save your pity. I was taken in by my foster parents in the Iron Throne, and I murdered you in the end. It was enough for me." He smirked, and Viviane could definitely see traces of her older brother in this boy.

Solar waved her hand again, and the three shades faded from sight. "What are your thoughts?" she asked quietly.

Viviane shook her head to get herself back to the present. "That was horrible," she admitted. "I can't judge Gorion for not telling me the truth."

"And what about your brother, Sarevok? Do you believe he stood a chance of happiness?"

She considered it. "That's hard to say. I think he would have been happier if Gorion had rescued him, but he ended up alive and with foster parents, so it could have been far worse for him."

The Solar gave her a meaningful look. "If Gorion had rescued Sarevok and not you, do you believe it possible you would have ended up in Sarevok's place?"

Viviane had a feeling this wasn't a question she should answer flippantly, so she thought about it out loud. "He and I are a lot alike anyway," she admitted. "I bet that if I'd been in his life and he mine, I would have been all Terror of the Sword Coast too. But I would have done a better job."

The Solar smiled. "Think on what we have discussed here, and go forth to your destiny, child."

She felt like she was floating, up and up until –

"Ah, the Child of Bhaal has awoken."

Viviane started screaming and flailing, not hitting anything. Her companions were all staring at her even as they were being swarmed by healing celestial beings.

"Never say that again!" she screamed, pointing at the randomly-appearing Melissan once she'd gotten her bearings.

The group looked at the mage in question. "I have no idea what she's going on about," she confessed with a shrug.

"She's insane, so just ignore her," Sarevok said dismissively. "What were you going to tell us?"

Melissan sighed as she glanced around the field. "So much murder… It's a pity this had to happen at all, but unfortunately it's not over yet and there's much more for you to do."

"Yaaay," Imoen drawled.

Viviane stood up, brushing herself off. "Yeah, there's still three more members to take care of. Who are they and where are they?"

Melissan took the map and marked it. "They are called Abazigal and Sendai, and they both have their domains outside the desert city of Amkethran. Both are more powerful than Yaga-Shura, but thankfully they do not have invulnerability that you will need to dispel first - or, at least, not that I am aware of. The rest I do not know, however. I am… friends with the ruler of Amkethran and I'm sure I can convince him to give you some aid, but the rest you will have to do on your own."

"You told us you would tell us more about you after we defeated Yaga-Shura," Keldorn reminded her. He had taken off his armor and was cleaning it, but he looked as if he might collapse at a moment's notice.

"This is true. As I said before, I am Melissan. I am a mage and a priestess, called to heal the suffering and protect the helpless. As news of your exploits reached my ears, I knew that the times of Alaundo's Prophecies were coming and I began doing my part to protect as many Bhaalspawn as I could…" She let out a weighted sigh. "It hasn't gone well at all. It seems that destiny is stronger than me."

"Awww, at least you're doing something," Imoen pointed out helpfully.

Melissan smiled at her. "Thank you for your kind words, Imoen. I will do my best to beat you to Amkethran and talk to my ally Balthazar. I - I wish you all the luck in the world!" She teleported out.

Again silence fell over the exhausted group.

"10 gold says she's evil," said Sarevok.

No one took him up on that bet.


	3. Part Two: Sendai

A/N: Sorry this took so long! It's a rather long chapter, and the Sendai fight is kind of a mess to write since there's like a hundred things going on. Phew!

* * *

Part II: Sendai

"You have been waylaid by enemies and must defend yourself."

"Really Sarevok, every time?"

"Yes."

Usually if their travels were interrupted, it was by a group of very stupid slavers or monsters who could be easily dispatched. In this case, it was an entire army strategically set up around the only oasis for miles.

"Crapbaskets," said Viviane.

Their general was a strong-looking older man wearing ceremonial platemail. "Halt in the name of the Queen of Tethyr! You, Viviane, Child of Bhaal, are to be destroyed for the horrors you visited upon Saradush!"

Anomen stepped in front of her defensively. "How dare you accuse her so unjustly! She was fighting to save Saradush!"

The man did not look convinced. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Yaga-Shura was a fire giant and he was the one who did the ransacking. We took him out," Imoen pointed out helpfully.

Viviane had to glance around Anomen to see what was going on. "Seriously, I saved the day as much as I could. I'm on my way to take out any other Children of Bhaal that feel the need to go crazy. Seriously, we're not your enemy and I really don't want to have to fight through you."

"You have magics that can prove her intent, do you not?" Keldorn asked, always the voice of wisdom.

The general looked thoughtful. "Yes, I do. Allow me…" He chanted a bit and Viviane began glowing with a serene light. "Yes. I see. Very well. You may pass, but remember that this army is here and we are prepared to destroy you if necessary."

"Aw, thanks."

The general ordered his men to stand down, allowing the party to walk through unmolested, although they were all on guard. "Well that was exciting," Viviane said with a sigh. "It was exactly what I wanted to have happen today."

Viconia shrugged. "They could have tried to burn you at the stake. That's always a pleasant experience."

"Good point. It could have gone way worse, if nothing else. I'm surprised these people were able to listen to reason. That's usually not how my life works."

"Everything happens for a reason," said Keldorn soothingly.

"Ooo, loot!" Imoen squealed before prancing off to rob the army, who didn't care one way or the other.

Eventually the others made it to the edge of the oasis, preparing to march off to Amkethran.

"You must gather your party before venturing forth."

"Really Sarevok, every time?"

"Yes."

* * *

The wind was blowing hard as they went up the path that led into the village.

"More desert!" Viconia drawled, her cloak tied up to both disguise herself and shield her face. "Just what I always wanted."

Keldorn was clearly losing his patience, even though long ago he had resolved to act as if Viconia did not exist. It didn't help him any that his usual method of calming himself was deep-breathing, but it was difficult to breathe in this hot, dry atmosphere. He had been about to break his vow of silence when a huge adobe fortress came into view, obvious even though it blended in with the sand.

"We are not storming that any time soon," said Sarevok, sounding impressed.

"A fortress in the middle of the desert? What could it be defending against?" asked Anomen thoughtfully. "Most villages do not worry about being under siege."

As if in answer to his question, a man dressed in cream-colored robes left the fortress, practically gliding over the sand to come to them. "Are you Viviane?"

"Yes."

"Good, come with me. Balthazar has been expecting you."

"Ominous!" Imoen sing-sang.

"It's not that ominous," Keldorn chided her as they walked to the fortress together, the monk leading the way. "We are a powerful group of people being led by a Bhaalspawn, so it only makes sense that whomever is protecting this village will want to-"

"My name is Balthazar," said a strongly-built, severe-looking monk who was standing in front of the gates. "You are guests here in Amkethran and I expect you to act as such. You will not interfere with the monastery's business. My fortress is off-limits to you. You will focus on your purpose, which is to destroy Abazigal and Sendai. I will mark their locations on your map. Do you understand?"

"I apologize, it's quite ominous," Keldorn admitted, causing Imoen to smirk.

"I wouldn't threaten me if I were you," replied Viviane calmly, with a raised eyebrow of challenge.

"It's not a threat, it's a warning and a promise." Without further words, Balthazar returned to the fortress, his monks closing the gates behind him.

"Charming man," she said with a sigh, stretching. "All right team, let's split up and see if we can figure out what's going on around here. If there's any sketchy stuff being done by monks, feel free to beat them up out of spite. I am going to take a break because we've been walking forever and my legs are short." She walked over and planted herself on a bench.

The others meandered off, solving crimes against young girls and old men, while Viviane closed her eyes and got a bit of relaxation and maybe a tan. Allegedly, sun elves were supposed to be tan, but she certainly didn't fit that description, which is what happens when someone spends the first 20 years of their life in a library and continually wears robes and hoods afterwards.

At length the end of the bench dipped down, marking the arrival of someone large. Considering three of the other five members of her party were all large, she couldn't tell who it was just from that, so she opened an eye. To her surprise, it was Sarevok.

"So, I remain at your side," he said thoughtfully, staring out into the desert. "I am impressed, I admit, although I'm not sure if that is because I am still capable of being around you without killing you, or because you haven't gotten rid of me yet."

"Is everything an insult with you?" she asked softly with a sigh, not really in the mood to argue too intensely. "You're here because you want to be. I'm not going to force you to stay or go."

"Hm." He didn't say anything for a few minutes before finally venturing, "You mentioned before you have no intention of seeking Bhaal's power for yourself."

"And I meant it."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you refuse godhood?" His fists clenched. "It doesn't make sense, especially coming from you. Becoming a god should be the highlight of your list of priorities, given your obsession with your exceptionality."

"It's not an obsession, it's an understanding of my awesomeness," she retorted. "And anyway, that's just it. I don't want to be epic because of Daddy, I want to be epic because of me. Me, Viviane Adrian, mage from Candlekeep. I'm sick of people thinking that the only reason I'm so great is because I'm half god, when really the only thing Daddy ever did for me was give me nightmares, and strange cravings for ham and cheese sandwiches which I can't even make because the last time I tried, I set them on fire by accident."

Sarevok let out a weighted sigh. "Sounds difficult."

"It was. It was terrible. Anomen however is an excellent chef, so I got that going for me, which is nice."

He made a disgusted face. "That's another thing. The irony of a Bhaalspawn dating a priest of Helm is somehow hilarious and horrible."

"You say that, but you never met Anomen before he became a member of the Order of the Radiant Heart. Hooey, was he a pain in the butt! He actually got mad once because I wasn't crazy enough for him to justify the whole 'evil blood' thing. According to him, I should have been murdering people all over the place due to my lack of self-restraint, which was closer to what he was doing. He didn't talk to me for a week after I pointed out that I wasn't all that crazy. I thought it was hilarious. But anyway then he grew up a little and now he's pretty cool and super good for my ego."

"As if you need the help."

"Thanks to you and Viconia, I definitely do. You two are so mean to me."

"Which brings me to my next point. This group you've accumulated… They are…hmm… how to put this… good. Goodly and orderly enough to make me gag, and then Imoen is so chipper and happy it hurts."

"Hm, you have a good point. Heh, get it, 'good'? Gosh I'm funny. Anyhow, yeah, I know. But here's the thing. I have run into people willing to travel with me who were mostly on the 'evil' end of things, and they were all jerks so they all ended up dying." Sarevok laughed and she pressed on, "Oh don't you laugh, it's totally true! There was a Red Wizard, and I sold him back to his homeland because I hated him so very, very much."

"You, hate another mage? Perish the thought."

"And then there was Korgan, who was an evil dwarf. I think I killed him too but I may have just kicked him off, because ugh, dwarves. No one likes dwarves." She paused. "Is that it? Yeah, and Viconia, but she's here although frankly I'd like to get rid of her any time now. Pretty sure that's it.*"

"From what I recall, you met many more people along the Sword Coast when I was trying to kill you."

"Yeah, but they died even more than the group from Amn did. If we're going with evil people, the Red Wizard was there too and he died then when Minsc brained him for talking smack about Dynaheir; there was a different evil dwarf that I hated even more than I hated the second evil dwarf, and the good dwarf killed him though the good dwarf died too eventually… uh, we killed the evil druid… Oh, there was uh, what's-his-name, Tiax, he died, twice actually… The evil bard, and he was killed by the evil feminist, who was in turn killed by kobolds… Oh, and Xzar and Montaron got killed by the evil demons living in the Friendly Arm Inn."

Sarevok wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he thought about it for a few seconds first. "Evil demons living in the Friendly Arm."

She looked at him with a vehement expression. "Everyone laughs at me for saying it but when we first walked there – Gorion-Daddy told me to go there first, but when we got there, there was an assassin right outside and he killed Xzar and Montaron which wasn't a terrible loss by any stretch of the imagination but why would I go in a building when people kill you outside it, really? I mean come on, I'm not that stupid, that guy was only the first of a bunch, I knew it! The-"

"All right, all right, stop talking. Who attacked you there?"

"A mage."

"Oh, what's-his-name. Tarnesh. I hired him. He was acting alone." As Viviane's jaw dropped, he continued, musingly, "At least he killed some of you. That was at least money well… maybe not well-spent, but money well something."

Viviane was glaring at him. "I never set foot in the Friendly Arm. Every time I had a party member and got rid of them, they went to that stupid inn, and I never saw them again because I wouldn't go in. The only exception is Imoen, who stole a pair of pants and ran to find me! And then, even worse, the people I sent to the Friendly Arm made their own adventuring group!"

"And you're telling me things I don't care about because?"

"Because it's all your fault!" She hit his arm, which didn't hurt him in the slightest. "I could have gone in myself and stolen those pants on my own! There was probably awesome stuff in there!" She crossed her arms and pouted. "You suck."

"And yet you recruited me."

"You make me regret it all the time, big bro." She sighed and stood up, stretching. "Anyway, I need to go find if there's a magic shop here. My track record so far is that I've tried to add Imprisonment to my book five times and failed every time, and maybe I'll get lucky and there'll be another copy here."

Sarevok, for lack of anything better to do, followed her just to laugh when she failed.

* * *

* Breaking the fourth wall, she added, "Except for all that enhanced edition tomfoolery. But I hate all those people. The cheesy vampire, the obnoxious half-orc, and that horrid, horrid wild mage. I'm a wild mage too but you don't hear me mentioning it every five seconds!"

"Did you just use 'tomfoolery' in a sentence?" Sarevok asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing full well the real reason she hated the mage was because the mage _was a mage_ and therefore took some of her specialness. She continued to rant but Sarevok sighed and ignored her. He was becoming good at it.

* * *

The team sat together in the common room of Amkethran's tiny inn, looking over a rudimentary map of the area. "So we have three choices," said Viviane professionally, "We can kill Sendai, or Abazigal, or go to Watcher's Keep."

"Why would we want to go to Watcher's Keep?" asked Viconia, resigned to not like the answer. "What a complete waste of time."

"It's a waste of time with lots of shiny things and awesome stuff," Viviane retorted. "It's a perfectly acceptable waste of time. But first we start with Abazigal or Sendai. So the question is: evil chick, or evil dude?"

"Do we know what either of them is or can do?" Sarevok asked gruffly. "It would be insipid for us to march to one of their lairs only to discover that we are going to die because they are monstrosities of doom."

"Wow, what a pessimist. They probably suck."

Keldorn voiced, "I've asked around; rumors are that Sendai is a drow priestess of some kind, while no one knows anything about Abazigal."

"We're going for Sendai first!" Viviane exclaimed cheerfully.

Viconia looked offended. "You mean you still hate drow?"

"Even more so since I've had to spend so much time with you."

"Ugh. You are disgusting."

"Your mom is disgusting!"

"Your mom is a crazy Bhaalite who tried to murder you."

"Huh. You win that round."

* * *

Following the map to Sendai's enclave ended up with the party in the middle of a peaceful woods under the protection of a lone elf ranger. "Either nothing is what it appears, or we were given poor directions," Keldorn said thoughtfully. "We need to look for clues to determine which."

The moment the words were out of his mouth, Imoen scurried inside the hunter's cabin to rob it. The hunter didn't seem to care.

"And she wonders why I think she's a better thief than mage," Viviane muttered.

She came back out and shrugged as she handed Viviane a rune. "This was in the chest."

"Huh." She looked it over, running a finger over the intricate folds of metal, before turning to Anomen. "Hold out that new hammer you got from Yaga-Shura." He did so, and she pressed the rune against it. "Yep, thought so. They go together." She looked at her team. "Any of you guys happen to have developed smithery or whatever over the last year?"

"That imp in your Pocket Plane is an accomplished smith," said Sarevok, although he looked ashamed to be admitting it.

"Huh? Cespenar? That's what he meant with the 'shiny ones' rant?"

"Yes, that is exactly what he meant with the 'shiny ones' rant. For the record, I hate that thing." There was something that didn't quite match his tone to his words, however.

"Aww, no you don't. Okay, Pocket Plane ahoy!"

There was a flash of light and the six people appeared in the Pocket Plane. Minsc and Boo had been playing pickle-in-the-middle with Cespenar, but the imp left their game to fly over to Viviane. "Great One brings for me the shiny ones?"

"Now that I know what the heck you meant by that – get it, since we're in Heck, kind of?" No one laughed. "Anyway, yeah, I have… 'shiny ones.' I think." She gestured for Anomen to give Cespenar the hammer and the rune, which he did.

"Oooooo! Mmm? What's this? You gots hammer? Bhaal once drop hammer on big godly toe. Jump around and swear for days, he did. Kicked poor me all the way to Baator. Very bad week, that."

Viviane blinked. "I imagine that was terrible."

"Oh it was. Here you is, I fixeded your giant hammer with the power of my recipes. Cespenar is best butler in all Hell, isn't I? Fixeded your hammer, made the shiny ones." The imp's eyes were impossibly wide.

Viviane petted him on the head. "You is the best butler, Cespenar, you is."

He squealed, flying around, giving the heroes the opportunity to flee back to Sendai's enclave before he could start demanding more affection.

Through the power of deductive reasoning, it soon became apparent that the innocent elven ranger was in fact not innocent at all, mostly because Imoen asked him a bunch of questions and he went hostile. "You will all die in the name of Sendai, greatest mage Bhaalspawn!" the disguised captain crooned before attacking, the forest animals returning to their original drow-shapes and surrounding the heroes.

The battle was short but intense. Afterwards, Viviane was making strange strangled noises and waving her hands around. "Uh! Did you hear that! Did you hear what he said!"

"Oh no," said Imoen, facepalming, knowing where this was going.

It was up to Anomen to soothe her. "Yes, Viviane, but it's just slander and lies. We all know you are the greatest mage Bhaalspawn. So please, calm down-"

"Calm down! Calm down! How can I be calm, Anomen? How am I expected to be calm?"

"We're in a picturesque forest, most people would find that soothing," Keldorn chimed in, clearly amused.

One thing that had been very apparent during their adventures in Amn was that Viviane had a huge crush on Keldorn and tended to agree with whatever he said. She ignored him, however, which was a huge warning sign to everyone but Sarevok. "I can't let this stand!"

"No, Viviane," said Anomen in his sternest voice.

"Oh yes, I am going to find her-"

"No, Viviane."

"-and challenge her to a mage duel! Just me and her! No one else is allowed to interfere!"

Viconia gamely raised her hand. "This Sendai is apparently a matriarch," she said, "which means that she must also be a cleric of Lolth of some standing."

"Which means she can't possibly be as good a mage as me!" Viviane proclaimed.

Viconia's eye twitched. "Yes, that was the point I was making."

"No that wasn't the point she was making!" Anomen interrupted, glaring at her before returning his focus to Viviane. "The point she was making is that Sendai is a high-ranking priestess on top of being a competent enough mage that she would feel confident saying she's superior. That means she is dangerous."

She was pouting, and Anomen wanted to kiss that pout away.

There had been no sexual attraction from Anomen to Viviane when they first met: she was fresh from torture, soaking wet and, well, small. Sure she was beautiful in the ethereal way all elves were, but he found it hard to get over how she was easily half his size and her ears were about eight times bigger. He thought she was adorable, to be frank. It was apparently a common opinion, especially how she was short and her ears were large compared to most other elves, let alone humans.

As cliché as it was, though, he accidentally spotted her undressing one day and made 2 simultaneous discoveries:

1) Viviane had the single most beautiful ass he'd ever seen, and

2) Anomen Delryn was an ass man.

From there it had been easy for him to become attracted to the rest of her, which started happening around the same time he found himself drawn to her personality. It was an unspoken but obvious truth that the two of them found and tolerated in each other what most people hated about them, both being proud, expressive and prone to embellishment to cover insecurity and a good dose of fear. But then Anomen's dreams had come true and he grew more confident and less bombastic, but Viviane had only become more powerful and eccentric with her life more chaotic, so she began relying on him to keep her grounded. It was a task he actually enjoyed, most of the time.

Just not when it was about to put her in grave danger.

"Sendai is both a mage and a cleric," he said repeated, slowly and carefully, "and she has centuries of experience. You do not have any cleric abilities, and you are only twenty years old."

"Yeah, but she said she was a better mage than me. Do you know how that makes me feel?" She was still pouting, which he found absolutely adorable.

"I'm going to guess it makes you angry."

"You'd guess right."

"But I must point out that you have a team who would be more than happy to kill her for you." He had a brilliant idea. "That way it would be like she's beneath your notice!" Her eyes widened. "You're too good to deal with her."

"Oooo, I like the way you think, Delryn!"

He considered that to be a grave insult, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

Sarevok did not. "I thought you liked him, why would you insult him so?"

"Hey!"

* * *

Viviane led the march into Sendai's enclave despite how silly it was for the team's squishiest member to ever be out front. A woman on a mission, she took out the spiders at the entrance with a quick incantation before continuing on with single-minded purpose.

Imoen took it upon herself to provide some distraction before her sister inevitably got eaten. "So, what's your favorite spell?"

Viviane lit up and faced Imoen, giving the three warriors chance to pass by and do their jobs. "Oh, you know, that's a great question. There are so many good spells and so many bad spells. Horrid Wilting is probably my favorite."

"Huh, I would've thought it'd be Death Spell."

"True, I do love Death Spell. But Horrid Wilting just has a certain something."

"DEATH COMES FOR YOU! FEEL ITS ICY BREATH!" Sarevok screamed as he destroyed yet another opponent.

"Ooo, I like that one!" Viviane said appreciatively.

"You can't steal it," Sarevok informed her.

"Psh. As if I would _want_ to!"

Imoen patted her on the head. "Don't lie, you want to."

"… Shut up. Anyway, I'm also a fan of Magic Missile just because it's so classic, you know? I wish there was a bigger version. Oh, and Emotion is awesome even if it is kind of freaky. I'm even fond of Finger of Death, but it's not as cool if only because priests can cast it too so that takes away some of its specialness."

Viconia joined them, deciding she didn't feel like participating in the violence. "I can't help but notice that none of the spells you approve of actually protect you in any way."

She huffed. "I don't need it. I have five bodyguards to do that part for me. My job is to create explosions. Speaking of, Dragon's Breath is pretty sweet too, especially since it doesn't set my friends and Viconia on fire. It's just really hard to cast and I can't do it that often. Also, I wish I had more chances to use Antichickenator, in that I wish I'd ever had a chance to use it. Oh, Chain Lightening is cool too. And… hmmm… well, there's always Imprisonment, which I really really really wish I could cast, except at this point I have messed up copying it into my book six times. I've never had this kind of problem before, honestly! Anyway, if I could cast it, it would probably be one of my favorites. Someday I'll get it down."

Sarevok, Anomen and Keldorn came back, all looking the worse for wear. "Thanks for all your help, it was very useful against the room full of drow," Sarevok spat, throwing a key on the floor at his sister's feet.

Viviane picked it up. "One of the many reasons I hate drow is their magic resistance, you know. Besides, you guys did fine." As Anomen and Viconia patched their wounds, she went over to find out where the key led to. "Ah ha, one of these two doors. Let's see…" She popped one open, looking through. "Filled with duergar." She closed it and looked through the other. "Filled with giant spiders."

"Ugh," said Imoen. "The only thing worse than a spider is a giant spider."

"I'd rather hack through spiders than slaves," Keldorn said thoughtfully. "In theory, once we kill Sendai the slaves will be able to go off as they wish."

"Aww, such an optimist. Okay, spiders it is!"

Imoen rolled her eyes. "If Keldorn told you to jump off a bridge, you'd ask which one."

* * *

After hacking and slashing their way through spiders, liches, priestesses and a surprise elemental prince, the team came to the door to Sendai's abode and promptly took the time to go rest in the Pocket Plane.

Viviane was awoken by Anomen shaking her. "Are you all right? You seemed to be having a nightmare," he said, looking concerned.

She sat up, rubbing her head. "Oh, yeah. I was dreaming of…" She took a minute to think about it. "Ah, Saradush burning."

He nodded, getting comfortable. He was probably excited to be the one comforting her for a change, the poor thing. "Understandable. We've come across a lot of death and destruction, but never at so large a scale."

"Well, except for Ust Natha. We kind of butchered that city, not that they didn't deserve it." She paused. "Ugh. Wow did I just sound totally crazy."

He sighed and pulled her into a hug. "None of it is actually your fault, you know. As loathe as I am to say it, we are currently destiny's playthings."

"A naked man in the woods once told me that I was exempt from fate."

Anomen blinked, then blinked again. "Is that so."

"Yep. It was a good time. Don't worry, I was fully clothed at the time. Even Safana wasn't interested, and that says a lot. Anyhow, yeah, Saradush. Don't worry about me, nightmares are kind of old hat by now. Gorion didn't even make a cameo, which tells you how lame that dream was."

He raised an eyebrow. "So it was a dream about _you_, not Bhaal."

She considered that. "Huh. Wow. That's kind of cool, actually, if you ignore the horrible circumstances of it all."

"Right, of course. So, would you like me to put you to sleep? I can always use a spell."

She blushed. "Cuddlebear time instead?"

He'd long ago gotten used to and able to ignore being called "cuddlebear," but that didn't mean he didn't give her a big sigh before pulling her into his arms.

* * *

Sendai was giggling in a way that was not at all comforting. She was a stunning beauty, taller than the average drow and with her dark skin and armor only adding to her allure. "Welcome, Gorion's Ward. What shall I call you, sister mine?"

Despite this being their first meeting, it was obvious from Viviane's demeanor that she absolutely hated this woman. "I'm Viviane, the greatest mage Bhaalspawn and Bhaal's obviously favorite kid." Sarevok snorted, but she ignored him. "You're a worthless drow who is now so very alone after I cut through her forces. We don't really need more introductions than that, do we?"

Sendai laughed. "While it's true you've cut through my forces, you have certainly not won. All you did was give me time to prepare."

Around the room, various statues – which, once they started moving, were obviously statues of Sendai – began to move.

"Wow, I want a bunch of me-statues," Imoen muttered. "Geez."

It was Viviane's turn to laugh. "Oh yeah, you're so tough that you need other people to fight for you. Uh-huh."

"Says the one who has five body-guards," said Viconia and Sendai at the same time with the very same sarcastic drawl.

Viviane gave her party member a stern look before going back to Sendai. "So, you ready to die, lady? 'Cause I am ready to rumble. Bring it on."

Sendai grinned. "Consider it brought." She disappeared, and the fight began.

The six Sendai statues regained full mobility, although only the ones attired as warriors ran forward to engage the team. The mage, the cleric and the ranger stayed back, two preparing spells and one shooting arrows into the fray. Drow soldiers began trickling in through the entrance, prohibiting escape and effectively capturing the heroes in a pincer move.

Viviane, in stark contrast to her bravado, ducked. "Keldorn, summon a choir of angels! Anomen and Viconia, lots of area of effect spells that can't kill us! Sarevok, kill stuff! Imoen, please try not to die too quickly!"

"I hate you Viviane!" Imoen screamed as a war cry as she backstabbed one of the drow.

"At least she said 'please,'" Keldorn soothed her even as began summoning the planetars. Sarevok let out a surprisingly manic scream of pure fury, charging into the fray and beginning to systematically hack apart the statues. Viconia was always loathe to listen to Viviane, but she was casting spell after spell, offensive and protective. Anomen helped Imoen kill the drow, but his eyes were flickering around the room, waiting for something.

The real Sendai finally emerged. "Curse you! The statues may have fallen, but I will not! I am the greatest of all Bhaalspawn!"

"Oh lady you are-"

Suddenly Viviane couldn't move, surrounded by a beautiful blue light. This wasn't one of her spells, and it definitely wasn't from Sendai, what –

It was a "Sanctuary" spell.

"Sorry, love," said Anomen, who reengaged with one of the drow warriors. "Keldorn!"

"I'm on it," the elder paladin said, putting his anti-magic training to good use against the priestess.

"You magnificent bastard!" Viviane screamed at her love, knocking on the walls of the shield. "I love you Anomen Delryn but I am going to kick your ass for this!"

"I know," he said, smashing the head of the drow he'd been fighting before turning to help Keldorn fight Sendai. Not stupid, she continued to activate protective spells, realizing that time was on her side at the moment.

At length the Sanctuary spell faded, and the choir of angels that Keldorn had summoned began to return to their home plane. Despite this, Sendai's drows continued to come in, and the Bhaalspawn herself was showing no sign of tiring. In order to keep the room from being overwhelmed, her other teammates had to crowd the stairs, forming a bottleneck for Sendai's backup.

Despite Anomen's best efforts, this left Viviane to fight Sendai. "And now here we are," the drow said with a smile on her face, "as you promised, I hope you give me some kind of a challenge. Prepare to die, little sister!"

There was a fleeting moment where Viviane recognized she'd bit off more than she could chew, but by that point it didn't matter. Sendai's forces were far more competent than Yaga-Shura's had been, and Sendai herself was a far more crafty opponent with an impressive magical repertoire. And, as Viconia may or may not have been correct about, Viviane's personal protection spells were sorely lacking.

Oh well. She could still strip Sendai's magic easily enough, and she had more than a few offensive spells up her sleeve. Add that to the fact that she had an entire bag of holding that carried nothing but healing potions, and she would be fine. With a speed that even Sarevok had to admit was impressive, Viviane and Sendai spelled and counter-spelled at each other, building defenses and ripping them down, occasionally attempting offensive spells that the other would shrug off – Viviane knew she herself was hurt more than she would ever show, but she wasn't so sure about her opponent.

The one thing Viviane had over her sister was that, for all of the complaints about Viviane's ego, Sendai just never seemed to stop _bragging_. She stonewalled a Horrid Wilting before bursting into that aristocratic laugh that reminded Viviane of Viconia. "Oh little girl, what have you done? To think I will destroy Gorion's Ward so easily!"

"Sweet Corellon do you _ever_ shut up?" Viviane asked rhetorically. It was great she wasn't expecting an answer, because Sendai's response was a strong pulse of fire magic that made her go flying backwards.

There was a sweet group of seconds from when the spell hit her to when she hit the wall that gave Viviane the last chance she had to finish this fight in her favor.

Sweet, good ol' reliable Magic Missile.

* * *

Viviane was back at the Candlekeep that was floating in the abyss, which was only slightly less preferable to the real Candlekeep. "Oh boy, I'm dreaming again," she said with a sigh.

Bhaal chose to show himself as Irenicus, which Viviane suspected was because he was a fan of his voice. Even Viviane was a fan of Irenicus' voice. "You have returned here, to this place, because you are weak. The gifts of Murder have been handed to you on a platter and you continue to defy your nature." As he spoke, a flock of blood-red crows flew overhead. "Your instincts _will_ defeat you in the end. I _will_ be resurrected. It is your choice as to you being my vessel, or my right hand."

Viviane looked over. There was now a river of blood with Gorion drowning in the middle.

She looked back to Bhaal. "Seriously? Is that the best you can do?"

Bhaalrenicus deeply scowled, morphing into the armored figure that looked more like Sarevok than anything else. "Brave words coming from a dead woman! I am the nature and the instincts, and I will not be denied!"

Viviane thought she heard someone, a female, calling her name, but it was too far away to be heard. "I'm denying you," she said simply, walking up to the building. If she was going to be stuck in a dream, maybe she could get some reading done. There was a large demon blocking the entrance to the library, so she put her hands on her hips and looked up at it. "No. Go away. I'm past the time where I need to sacrifice parts of myself to learn, thank you."

The demon pouted and disappeared.

Viviane went inside, finding a random book. Another Elminster Ecology, ugh. "What an attention whore he is," she muttered, going to find a seat. To her surprise, there was someone already sitting there.

"Why hello there old bean!" said someone who bore a resemblance to Minsc, except for the fancy suit and top hat. "It is good to see you well, guvnah!"

Viviane felt the cold fingers of terror on her spine. "Who're you?"

"You don't recognize your noble companion? I'm Minsc! My head wound was finally healed and I am back to the way I was. Allow me to reintroduce you to my animal companion, Messere Boobleton the Third." He gestured to a smartly-dressed hamster sporting a stylish monocle.

"Cheerio," said the hamster.

Viviane began screaming.

She woke up in a cold sweat sitting on the floor of her Pocket Plane. The Solar looked over her, and even the planar being of power looked confused. "I have been summoning thy spirit for a long time, Child of Bhaal. Where have you been?"

"Dreaming. Again." She stood up, brushing herself off. "It happens a lot. Say, is it just me or am I missing my body?"

The Solar nodded. "You were gravely injured during the fight with Sendai, even if you did prevail. Your body has been resting in Amkethran for the past week."

She digested this information. "So I won, right?"

The Solar let out the largest sigh Viviane had ever heard. "Yes, you won." She continued to say things like _barely_ and _thou were an idiot_, but Viviane was too busy doing a happy dance to care. "But regardless, it is time for you to learn more about thyself. Today we are going to be discussing your place in Alaundo's prophecy."

She stopped her dance for a minute. The prophecy, ugh. Viviane had always had the stupid thing memorized, even back when she was a little thing running around Candlekeep. Imoen had once told it was majorly creepy that she could recite it so easily, although neither of them knew at the time how deeply it would affect them. "What about it?"

The Solar smiled. "That is an excellent question. What are thy thoughts?"

"I kind of hate that stupid prophecy nowadays. When I was little it was cool, but now it's just sort of… overinvolved, all encompassing, is that a word? Encompassing? Yeah, it is. I'd rather just be kicking butt and saving the Sword Coast without any of the baggage attached."

"So you wish to save the Sword Coast, then, in direct violation of the prophecy."

She nodded. "For sure!"

The Solar's grin enlarged. "Then you will be happy to hear this: you exist to subvert the prophecy. The prophecy warns of what should happen if you fail."

Viviane's happy dance restarted. "Okay! Send me back to my body!"

Solar did so, and Viviane awoke with a start. She had a strong craving for cheese.

* * *

The next day, the six companions donned their various armors and weaponry, ready to once again embark on their quest.

"We've got two choices, if I remember right," Viviane said, looking over her journal and the map, "We can take on Abazigal now, or we can try our luck with Watcher's Keep. As a huge fan of stupid Helmites and shiny things, I vote we take on Watcher's Keep first. Besides, Abazigal isn't going to go anywhere; these guys are really not proactive at all."

"Illasara attacked us," Keldorn reminded her, "which was quite proactive."

"Who?" Viviane asked even as Anomen picked her up so she was riding him piggy-back style; it was the only way he'd agree to even let her out of bed.

"Illasara the Quick?" Imoen said, "You know, she confronted us in those elven ruins?"

"Huh? Chick with Nice Boots?"

Viconia sighed. "Yes, Chick with Nice Boots."

"She was a Child of Bhaal?"

"She was a member of the Five," Anomen pointed out.

"Nyuh-_uh_. Oh come on! Makes me wonder why they didn't ask _me_ to join. I am way better than Chick with Nice Boots. In fact," she smiled smugly, "I'm better than all of them."

Her party members rolled their eyes.

"So, anyhow, where to first?"

"Wherever you lead," Sarevok said gravely.


End file.
